In a computing environment, available physical resources may be allocated statically at the time the computing system is initially setup. For example, physical resources such as memory, processors, and disks may be installed into particular machines, and the particular machines assigned to particular users. The allocation process may be an out-of-band process that requires the user to specify resource requirements to an information technology department, which then allocates and provisions the system for the user. Re-provisioning resources typically requires a rebuild of the system, or the allocation of a new system with redefined resource requirements.
In a cloud computing environment, virtual resources are provisioned out-of-band in a manner similar to how physical resources are allocated in a conventional computing environment. For example, a user may request a virtual resource using a web interface. In response to the request, the user may receive access information for the virtual resource, such as an internet protocol (IP) address associated with a new virtual resource, a logical identifier associated with the new virtual resource, or a network location of a virtual disk. The user may then use the virtual resource by updating user commands to include access information to the virtual resource before running the user commands or by configuring a system to include access information to the virtual resource before rebooting the system.